Christmas at Sinawa returns from 4 to 9 p.m. Dec. 7 and 4 to 8 p.m. Dec. 8.

Admission is $5 per person or $20 per carload and includes all activities. Food, drinks and raffle tickets will available for purchase. As for activities:

• wander through 14 decorated cabins along candlelit trails;
• warm up around roaring bonfires;
• take a wagon ride through the woods;
• visit with Santa; and
• enjoy dinner and snacks inside the warm lodge.

Camp Sinawa is at 9113 Sinawa Road, 4 miles south of Valders. Visit campsinawa.com for a complete calendar of events.

Bear season shows rebound in harvest, hunter success

Preliminary results for the 2024 bear season show a rebound from the below-average harvest of last fall.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said preliminary results indicate bear hunters harvested 4,285 bears during the five-week season this fall, up from 2,922 bears taken during last fall’s bear season.

Randy Johnson, DNR large carnivore specialist, explained: “Several factors likely led to this season’s increase in harvest. In 2023, we saw an incredible amount of acorns and other natural food production. This reduced the effectiveness of baits and translated to a historically low harvest.

“This year, anecdotes from bear hunters and harvest data suggest less natural food availability than last year,” Johnson added. “Additionally, last year’s low harvest, coupled with bears entering dens in excellent body condition last fall, likely contributed to an increase in the number of bears on the landscape this fall.”

The 2024 bear season ran Sept. 4-Oct. 8. A total of 11,501 bear hunting licenses were awarded to hunters through the license lottery system.

Although the number of licenses was reduced slightly this year, hunter success rates were generally higher than expected, leading to meeting or exceeding harvest targets in most management zones.

Statewide, hunter success was about 37%, up from the five-year average of 31%.

Hunter success rates in individual zones varied from a high of 71% in Zone A to less than 10% in zones E and F.

“On average, we expect to see about half of the total bear harvest within the first five days of the season,” Johnson said. “This year, nearly 57% of the total harvest occurred in those first five days, with over 1,000 bears taken on opening day alone. Although the harvest rate returned closer to average during the rest of the season, this strong first week set the stage to meet or exceed harvest targets by season’s end.”

Read last week’s column:Wisconsin man’s African elephant hunt helped save a village from a harassing bull elephant

Valders processor accepting donations for local woman’s breast cancer battle

BRW Processing in Valders is accepting donations for a local woman, Amanda, who is battling breast cancer.

If you would like to donate cash or a gift to her, stop by 512 W. Washington St. in Valders any time before Dec. 8. Then, on Dec. 8, there will be a benefit for Amanda at the Marsh Inn of Collins from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. for those who would like to help out. Thanks in advance for any support you can provide.

In addition, BRW is taking deer for the DNR’s venison donation program, which will be ground into hamburger and given to food pantries. They will also take your deer heads so the DNR can do CWD testing on them.

Woodland Dunes hosting final two hikes in ‘50 Hikes for 50 Years’ series

Woodland Dunes, 3000 Hawthorne Ave., Two Rivers, will present the final two hikes in its “50 Hikes for 50 Years” series.

First up will be a conifers hike at 2 p.m. Dec. 6. Join staff on a guided hike to learn about Wisconsin’s native conifer species and how to identify them.

Then, the “Final Hike” will be at 1 p.m. Dec. 14 with the Dunes’ executive director.

Registration is required for all hikes, and space is limited. To register, email Jess at jessicaj@woodlanddunes.org or call 920-793-4007.

Deer hunters report good luck opening weekend

Deer hunters have been having some pretty good luck on opening weekend. Some groups have most of their buck tags filled, and I also know of a monster that was taken on opening day. I will get the details on that hunt and have it in next week’s column.

That’s it for this week, so have fun in the great outdoors.